Metroid: Nightmares
by L'hiratheWerepyre
Summary: Samus is having strange dreams, a new patrol of space pirates is on the loose, and something very sinister is on the horizon... Can Samus handle this?
1. Chapter 1: Impact

Metroid: Nightmares…

Chapter one: Impact

_Sheer glass surrounded her, entombing her, taunting her with its tricks. Stripped of her power suit, she was left vulnerable and powerless, forced to endure the torture. She was in a sheer glass room, which was suspended in midair by unknown means. Oxygen could get in and circulate the room, but yet she herself could not. Alert, she gazed about her prison, and jumped when an ominous rumbling rang through the room. The walls contracted, making the room a fifth smaller. Then, to her horror, ten inches of water surrounded her ankles…_

Samus awoke with a jolt, and gazed out through her fogged up helmet visor. "Great…" She grumbled, pulling off the helmet and wiping it with an armored hand. She gazed at the controls and readouts without seeing them, contemplating her nightmare. This was the fifth time this week that she'd had the dream, and each time it grew longer and more nerve-wracking. It had been over a year since her experience on Aether, and the dark part was still haunting her dreams, at least she was pretty sure it was the dark part. Samus turned the ship off autopilot and watched as her ship slowed and stars came into view. There was a spaceport on Zola II, so she headed off for the orange planet, the dream still in her mind…

"Hey, Samus! Long time no see! How've ya been?" Greg, the bartender's assistant greeted. Samus shrugged. She was in a skintight suit with a handheld blaster strapped to her hip.

"Mmm, can't complain." Samus replied, sitting down at the bar. Greg poured Samus a small glass of water and ran back into the kitchen area, yelled something to someone back there, and came back out.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" Greg offered. Samus stood up, towering over him, and led him out into the artificial Earth-like environment. They walked around the square for a bit, and then Samus stopped abruptly.

"What is it?" Greg asked. Samus shook the feeling off, and then spoke.

"I really should get back to the ship. It's been fun, and I'll come visit sometime, but right now, I _really_ need to get going."

"Why?"

"I don't know, but I just sensed something extremely sinister, and I'll probably need to combat it."

"Well, be careful. Don't get yourself killed, okay?" Samus laughed at Greg's comment.

"I'll be careful, Greg." Samus replied, and walked off to where her ship was docked. She climbed up the gangway and stepped into the cockpit. She pressed a few controls, closing the gangway, and turned towards the back of the ship, where her power suit was in its case. She sighed, got the suit on, and walked back into the cockpit and slumped into the chair. Sliding her arm cannon into the slot, a very strange feeling came over Samus, one that was very similar to the premonition she'd just had outside. The ship whirred to life with a comforting hum, and the feeling disappeared. She flew off out of the atmosphere, and was setting the coordinates for some distant planet, when a warning alarm rang out through the cockpit. Samus gazed at her radar. Three red dots were approaching her position, and fast. She gazed out of the window. Three dark, and familiar shapes were approaching her position. The Space Pirates had found her! Samus kicked the ship into overdrive, and armed her lasers and missile cannons, ready for a fight. She could see the lead ship's markings clearly now, and could picture the space pirates scrambling about, going about their orders. A red bolt shot through the deep vacuum of space, and narrowly missed Samus. Angrily, Samus fired back at them, and hit the surface of the lead ship. A blue light was shot out from the ship and followed Samus at an alarming rate.

"Shit! Seeker missiles!" Samus grumbled, sending her ship into a rolling frenzy. The missile followed her, drawing nearer and nearer. Then a crazy idea popped into her head. Samus turned the ship towards one of the pirate ships and shot straight at them, kamikazee style. At the last possible moment, Samus turned upwards, and the missile plowed right into the ship's cockpit area. A brilliant explosion lit up Samus's armour with a victorious glow, and Samus shot a missile at the second ship, destroying it as well. Now it was just Samus's hunter-class gunship and the pirate battleship. An eerie silence enveloped the two ships. A red glow, brighter than the explosions Samus had caused a few minutes earlier, began to shine at the front of the lead ship, an instant giveaway telling Samus that their turbolasers were being charged to maximum. They fired off a brilliant red ball of light, which stood still for a few seconds, then exploded. A wave of pure deadly energy spread out, hitting Samus's engines and damaging them severely. The ship flew off, leaving Samus stranded. Samus knew what she was about to do was sure-fire suicide, but Samus didn't care. She punched in the last coordinates, and hit the button. The hyperdrive kicked into gear and her ship shot off into the depths of space.

The ship was careening through space at a dangerous rate, frantic, Samus began the shutdown, but the ship came out of hyperspace and flew straight at a planet Samus had never seen before. The ship entered the atmosphere and began the drop. The engines were smoking slightly, and losing power rapidly.

"C'mon! Work!" Samus cried through gritted teeth, trying to turn the engines back on. Finally Samus pulled down the switch, turning the power off, and braced for impact. She didn't have to wait long. The ship hit the surface of the planet with such force, that shockwaves were sent out, and knocked down trees, crushed boulders, and killed any wildlife that was within a 2-mile radius of the ship. Samus slumped back into her chair, and promptly passed out.

_The pain was excruciating. It shot through her whole body, but focused on her feet and ankles in general. She screamed in pain, sinking to her knees. The Substance, which she had at first taken for water rose up to her shoulders, and she stood up, making the Substance come up to her waist. The glass tank was now starting to get cramped. She could just barely stand up to her full height, but her head brushed against the cold, forbidding glass ceiling. She looked at her ankles, and screamed…_

_End of Chapter one._


	2. Chapter 2: A new breed

Metroid: Nightmares…

Chapter two: A new breed

Samus was jolted awake. She groaned. The nightmare had gotten worse. Sighing, Samus pressed the button to open the top hatch, and leaped out onto the top of her ship. From her position on the roof, Samus could see the damage her crash had caused, and the original landscape in the distance. The land was scoured and bare of all life for a 2-mile radius.

"Geez." Samus thought. "I thought the impact crater on Tallon IV was bad!" Samus hopped down from her ship and did a damage check. Her ship was half buried in the sand, of which the top layer had melted to become glass. The engines were in flames, and were in need of extensive repairs. And the heat was still radiating off of the ship, melting more sand, and making recovery of the ship even less possible. Samus sighed in her helmet, fogging up the visor for a split second. She was going to be here a while.

Samus was quite frustrated. She had tried everything to get her ship out. Digging would be quite difficult, and blasting it was certainly no good, it would only make more glass. But there was one thing she noticed that was strange about the glass. She could not shatter it, no matter how hard she hit it. Tired and angry, Samus threw her emergency hammer as far as she could, without thinking of the possible consequences. Angry with herself now, Samus stalked off after it. After quite a bit of walking, Samus found her hammer lying by a small grove of bushes. She bent down to grab it, when she heard slightly familiar voices. Darting out of sight, Samus parted a particularly large tuft of grass and watched what was unfolding before her. The ship, which had damaged her engines, had landed a few yards from Samus's current position, and walking down the gangplank, was Ridley. He was clad in black armour, much like when she had met him at the impact crater on Tallon IV, but this time it seemed almost as if he'd grown it on himself. A squad of pirates followed him, of which breed Samus had never seen before. A tall pirate walked up to him, exchanged a few words, and then led him to what looked like a hill. The pirate pressed a spot on the rock, and it opened wide, revealing a tunnel. Samus crawled forward for a closer look. The squad and Ridley followed the pirate into the tunnel, and the rock closed behind them.

"Well, then. I think I just may win the favor of the Federation for this one." She muttered to herself, and sat there, waiting for nightfall.

Nightfall had come, and Samus crept up to where the pirates had disappeared into a few hours before, pressed the hidden button, and disappeared into the tunnel. Her scans for enemies read negative, so she continued forward into the tunnel. After a few minutes of walking, Samus came to what looked like a lab of some sort. There were stasis tanks with creatures unknown to her spread out about the large room, and computer panels along all of the walls. To her fortune, the pirates had seemed to have gone to sleep. Curious, Samus walked up to one of the stasis tanks and looked at the creature inside. It looked bizarre, with its semi-transparent skin and veins flowing with a glowing blue substance. She scanned the monitor at the face of the tube for a bit of info.

"_Specimen; living. 2 weeks exposure._" The monitor read. Samus continued on and entered another long tunnel. It continued on farther deep into the base, and finally opened up into a room larger than the last. Samus stared. In stasis tanks, were space pirates! Samus smirked. She could end this right now! Samus walked up to the first stasis tank. Then Samus realized what was wrong. It was too easy. Samus shook aside her suspicions, charged up her power beam, and the lights in the room switched on and all the doors locked. And she was pretty sure she could hear an alarm in the background. She turned back to her prey, and what she saw chilled her to the bone. The space pirate, whom was originally asleep, stared back at her with glowing red eyes. It stirred for a bit, and Samus backed away, charging her beam again. The pirate shattered its stasis tank and leaped out at her, and triggered the rest of its sleeping brethren to free themselves as well. She was surrounded.

"You want a fight? Well you're going to get one hell of one!" Samus snapped, firing a charge beam at the nearest pirate, and, to her horror, absorbed the blast. Really angry now, Samus armed her light beam and shot at another pirate. The pirate faltered, but still advanced. Then, for the first time, Samus felt real fear rise up inside her. Angry with herself and the pirates, she opened up everything she had on them, but only to fail. Then a cackle mixed with a roar rang out throughout the lab, and down swooped Ridley in all his newfound glory.

"Well, well. Samus Aran. I thought you were dead. But I guess I was mistaken." The dragon sneered. Samus shot a charged blast at him, but he just raised one claw, absorbed the blast, and fired it back at her out of his mouth. Samus lowered her arm cannon, and Ridley chuckled. "What? Has the great Samus Aran finally been defeated?" Samus drew her dagger, leaped at him and stabbed him in the chest. Ridley shook his head, pulled out the dagger, and threw it aside. The wound healed instantly. "You see, Samus, the Space Pirates are not going to be beaten as easily as the last times. We have found a power source unlike any other, even greater than that phazon we were fiddling around with a few years ago. And, as you have so vainly discovered, it has made us unbeatable."

"Just like you, Ridley. All talk and no bite." Samus snapped bitterly. The very bad blood between them was starting to boil over. Ridley glared.

"Fine, then. If you want it that way, then so be it! Men! Get her!" Ridley flapped his great wings and soared off, and the space pirates advanced, grabbing Samus. Though she fought gallantly, then jabbed her with a needle, which pierced her armour. For a split second there was excruciating pain, and then everything faded into blackness…

_End of chapter two._

**Note; I do not own Metroid prime or any other of the characters in this story. They belong to Retro Studios and whomever else created Metroid.**


	3. Chapter 3: It all begins

Metroid: Nightmares…

Chapter 3: it all begins… 

Samus could feel them carrying her around as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Conversing in their native tongue, the beings laid her on a table and began discussing what to do with her. A large creature walked up to the table, cackling gleefully. Samus knew she hated this creature, but she could not remember who it was or why. She could feel the armour protecting her, but yet, the creatures could pierce it. Piece by piece, they removed her armour, leaving her in her skintight orange flight suit and letting her long blonde hair flow down onto the table.

"The drugs they must have used must've been powerful…" Samus thought to herself. Powerful, the drugs were, but they were starting to wear off, and slowly, she could feel her strength and memory returning. Now only faking the stupor, Samus listened to what the pirates were conversing about.

"What are we going to do with her, Master?" One pirate asked. Ridley thought for a moment.

"We should kill her. Clean and quick. Then there'll be no trouble from her again!" Another added. The pirates were already starting to draw their weapons. Ridley raised a claw.

"No. She's caused us too much trouble to just simply kill her. No, I have a better idea." Ridley and the pirates turned away and talked in low tones, so Samus couldn't hear what they were saying. The group split, with Ridley and the pirates looking even doubly pleased. Ridley stalked forward and leaned in close to Samus's face. "We shall see who is the greater now. Oh, do we have plans for you!" Samus snapped her eyes open and grabbed Ridley by the throat with one hand. She pulled him in closer and squeezed even tighter.

"Well, here's a bit of news for you. That isn't how this is going to work." Samus sneered through clenched teeth. Ridley tried to speak, but all that came out was a choked gurgle. He flailed his arms wildly, and by pure chance, grabbed a needle filled with a silvery liquid, and jabbed it into Samus's shoulder. Once again pain shot through her body, and everything faded to black…

(Ridley's point of view) Ridley fell to the floor with a gasp, clutching his throat. The pirates, whom had been to busy talking to notice that he was being strangled, rushed to his side, but he pushed them away and stood up. Lying there on the table was Samus, now unconscious, with the needle still sticking out of her shoulder. Smirking, Ridley ripped the needle out of her shoulder and licked the tip, tasting her blood. He quickly spat it out onto the floor and wiped his mouth. Confused, the pirates stood around, just looking at each other dumbly.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GO FIND A TORTURE CHAMBER, AND FIND A GOOD SUPPLY OF POWER!" Ridley roared. The pirates stumbled out of the room and went off to prepare the device. Still gasping for breath, Ridley grabbed Samus and carried her out of the room.

(Back to Samus) Samus could feel the dragon carrying her over his shoulder, but where to, she did not know. They put her in a cool chamber and probably left her to die, and the drugs finally wore off, letting her fully wake up. All there was was glass. Sheer glass encased her, and brilliant white light glowed in from the outside. Air could get in and circulate, but she knew she couldn't. She knew, but she couldn't figure out why. She sighed and sat down, waiting for the interrogation to begin.

It never did. Samus got up and examined the glass. It didn't look very thick, but in the glowing white light, she couldn't really judge. Samus gritted her teeth, determined not to crack. Then, to her fury, she began to pace. After about an hour of that Samus gazed at the glass curiously. Then focused all her strength and punched the glass as hard as she could. It didn't even make a dent. Samus continued hitting the glass, but it led to no avail, except to leave her hands torn and bloody. Then, to her relief and horror, ten inches of water came into the tank and surrounded her ankles. Samus sat down in the water, not caring about getting wet. Only then did she really notice that her hands were injured. Cautiously, she dipped her hands into the water. It stung a bit, but still cleaned her wounds, sealing them instantly. Samus gazed at her reflection. Then she finally realized what was so familiar. This situation was part of her nightmares! Samus leaped out of the water in horror, just as the tank shrank in size. Samus stood in the corner, arms crossed, and (sort of0 ready for what would come next.

(Ridley) This was great! Not only was seeing his arch-nemesis suffer, but she would soon feel the real torture! She had the substance in her bloodstream now, so it was only a matter of time before the real torture began. He rubbed his arm where the blood sample had been taken. He'd gallantly decided to use his blood in the substance, so the changes would torture her even more. But something still bothered him. When he had tasted her blood earlier, it didn't taste like it had before this encounter. Bcak then it tasted like Chozo and human mixed, but now, it had the bitter taste of a metroid in there. This bothered him. The substance had the ability of bringing out the best features of the blood mixture, so if a metroid's blood was in her as well, what would it cause? He pushed that thought aside and laughed as Samus leaped up out of the water in fear. This was going to be quite entertaining.

_End of chapter three._


	4. Chapter 4: The Torture

Metroid; Nightmares…

Chapter 4. The torture

Samus stood in her tank. She had lost track of the time, so she had no idea as to how long she'd been in there. Her only thoughts were of escape. She patiently examined her tank, every angle, every dimension. She could picture Ridley standing outside the tank, laughing, and a few times she could have sworn she heard his cackle. Now the tank was really small, and it was nearly impossible to stand up.

"I wonder how they made this thing." Samus thought to herself, trying to keep her emotions in check. No answer came to her, so she sat down and waited for something to happen.

Ridley Ridley had lost his interest in watching Samus days ago. Two weeks had passed, and there were still no signs of any changes. So it was no surprise that he had left the cage under small guard. There was no way for the hunter to escape her prison, so why waste valuable men? Ridley yawned and stretched, realizing he had fallen asleep attempting to focus his energy.

"Why did I even listen to those superstitious troopers? Focusing energy-ha! If you want power, just climb back in your stasis tank!" He grumbled, walking out of his quarters. He passed by the galley, swiping some feed and growling at the cook, who had been sitting at a table with his eyes closed. Ridley got even angrier when the cook said that he was focusing his energy. "Oh well. Smaller rations for him, then." Ridley walked into the room that held Samus' tank. "Good morning Samus. Have we had a nice rest?" Ridley asked, knowing Samus would not hear him. He stepped up to her prison and peeked in. Samus was sitting in a corner with her eyes closed. Samus' eyes opened suddenly. She stood up and stepped up to the side of the tank where Ridley was standing. "What the hell-?"

SamusSamus stared at the glass in front of her. For some reason, she could see a little better now. She saw a vague but familiar figure standing there. She smirked.

"Hello, Ridley." She said.

RidleyRidley backed away from the tank. Samus knew he was there! This was bad, very bad. And there was something different about her eyes. They had gone from blue to a yellow-gold, and her pupils weren't like a human's. They were slitted, like his or that of a Chozo. Ridley grinned suddenly. Now the real entertainment began.

SamusSamus could see Ridley back away from her tank. Satisfied, Samus sat back down in the corner. The water level got an inch higher. But now, the water felt thicker, more viscous. Samus looked down at her reflection, and saw what Ridley backed away from. Her eyes had changed drastically. They were golden! And her pupils were slitted! Startled, Samus stared at her reflection for a few minutes, then looked back at the glass. Her vision seemed sharper, more clearer. No wonder she was able to see through the glass! Then a memory came back to her.

_Samus looked up at the Chozo that held her hand. It smiled at her._

"_Come along, Samus. We're going to go see the Council of Elders. They all want to see you." Samus smiled at him and followed. His golden eyes shone with happiness…_

Samus snapped back into reality. Determined to figure out what was going on, she scooped up a handful of the substance. It held its shape, like gelatin. It was very blue, and seemed to slightly glow. Puzzled, she held her other hand up to it. When she had been given the metroid vaccine, she found she could feel radiation without having to scan whatever had the radiation. This substance was giving off loads of radiation, even more than Phazon gave off. No wonder the mutations in her eyes occurred. Samus gasped, staring at her hand. Where the radiation had been touching, her hands had become clawed, and slightly scaly. She screamed.

Ridley"Yes!" Ridley shouted victoriously. "I thought giving her the substance undiluted would speed up the process!" Two pirates walked up to him.

"Is everything all right, sir?" One of them asked.

"Of course everything's all right! The torture is working! Now go back to your posts!" Ridley shouted back. The pirates scurried off, leaving Ridley alone with the prisoner. Knowing Samus would see him, Ridley stalked up to the tank. Samus sat in a corner, with tears trickling down her cheeks. Ridley grinned at seeing his lifelong rival suffer. The tears made it even better. He'd known that the mutations would be painful, but seeing the mutations hurt her emotionally made this experience a true victory indeed.

"Smile, my friend. It's going to get a lot worse."

End of chapter four… 

**Author's note; I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but I've been very busy with exams, homework, and other things. Hopefully, I'll get more of Samus' adventures out soon. And thank you to alleycat1312 for pointing out the comma issue to me. See you next mission!**

**Enforced Evolution**


	5. Chapter 5: Breakout!

Metroid: Nightmares…

_Part 5. Breakout!_

Samus sat in her tank, gazing mournfully at her reflection. The mutations had progressed farther, and now she was starting to look more Chozo. Feathers mixed in with her golden hair, and her arms had begun to develop flight feathers. The strange thing was, was that her shoulder blades were seeming to transform, and two new bones were growing, as if she was growing another set of wings. This was strange, because the Chozo's wings were on their arms.

Samus stood up, stooping to prevent her head from bashing off of the ceiling, and gazed out of her tank. She could see perfectly well now, and she could see a few pirate guards marching around in lopsided rounds.

"_They must've been celebrating for something. Maybe their torture's success?_" She thought to herself. A familiar voice, laden with alcohol, boomed at the guards, who snapped to attention. In stepped a slightly wobbly Ridley. He looked up at the tank, grinning.

"Hey, Sssamus. How're ya doin' this fine evening? Not too good?" He drawled, slurring his words badly. Samus glared back at him and made a harsh hand gesture. "Aw, there'ss no need fer thaat, my friend. And I wass hoping to give you a surprise! Maybe a bit of fresh air, perhaps?" The pirate guard nearest to him, who had clearly not been drinking as much, leaned over.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea, sir? Won't she try to escape?" The pirate asked.

"O' course not! Even if she did try, she wouldn't have the sstrength tooo…" Ridley flopped over in a dead faint in mid-sentence. The pirates looked over at each other, grabbed their fallen commander by the ankles and dragged him away. Samus sat back down, sighing. As she stared off into space, she realized that Ridley was right. She hadn't had anything to eat since she was first imprisoned, and now she had barely any energy to even stay awake. Not really noticing, Samus began scratching at the glass with her nail.

"Wait a sec…huh?" Samus muttered, looking at where she had scratched away at the glass. There was a deep mark. Samus grinned, formulating a plan in her mind. She was going to get out… tonight.

Samus stared out the wall of her tank. The guards had left, probably to sleep off the alcohol, leaving Samus alone in the room. Taking one final glance around the room, Samus turned back to the weakened spot in the glass that she had scratched away earlier. She had managed to scratch it to a width of about two inches earlier, and began scratching at the spot again. Its width didn't decrease at all. Puzzled, Samus scratched harder. It had no effect whatsoever. She looked at her clenched fist. The skin on her knuckles was thicker, more resilient to harm.

"Oh, god, I hope I know what I'm doing." She muttered to herself, and punched the weakened spot as hard as she could muster. The glass cracked. Samus punched again. The glass cracked even more. With a final cry of fury, she punched again, shattering the glass.

Ridley awoke with a start. Someone had broken a window or something. Then Ridley remembered; the base had no windows! Yelling a string of harsh curses, Ridley leaped out of his bed. Either one of the new batches had gotten stuck in their stasis tank, or a prisoner had broken free. And their only prisoner was his archrival…

Samus leaped to the ground, mindful of the glass on the floor. She could have sworn she heard a yell, but it must've been her imagination. Now to find her way out…

Samus ran down the hallway, carefully watching for familiar surroundings, guards, and Ridley. None jumped out at her. As she ran, she almost bolted right past what looked like a map of the base. She never was able to read the Space Pirates' native language, but she was smart enough to identify the usual symbols on a map. She could see a red dot, probably showing where she was, and could see many symbols of importance. A red gun stood out among them.

"Armoury." Samus muttered, tracing her clawed finger over the path there. That would be the first thing that would be needed to visit. Right beside it was what looked like a barracks, and a long hallway led into a very expansive chamber, where a very large symbol that Samus did not recognize shone. Another short hallway, and then the exit! Nodding to no one in particular, Samus turned back down the hallway, and ran on.

Ridley bolted down the hallway towards the torture hold. He'd checked the stasis area already, and there was no disturbance, which could mean only one thing… Ridley growled, and quickened his pace.

Samus slowed to a walk as she neared the armoury. From her vantage point, she could see blasters sitting on shelves, and what looked like the Pirates' trademark energy swords hanging on the wall. Smirking, Samus grabbed a blaster and a sword, fixing it to her wrist as she left. Two minutes later, she passed another map. Verifying her path, she continued her way towards freedom.

Ridley stopped dead as he entered the room where Samus should have been imprisoned. Glass littered the floor, and a bit of the Substance was leaking out of the tank. Exploding with anger, Ridley threw back his head and roared, slamming his fist down onto the alarm button…

Samus was halfway to the large chamber when a loud roar rang through the halls and the alarm started wailing.

"SHIT!" Samus shouted, and bolted down the hall. She could hear pirates milling about their barracks loudly, and there was another noise, like the steady beat of flapping wings. Not watching where she was going, she nearly plowed right into a large glass column. Samus skidded to a halt and looked around. Glass columns, stasis tanks, littered the room. In them, were sleeping pirates. Then she remembered why this room was so familiar. This was the room she'd been captured in! The wings had grown louder, and now she could hear a roaring.

"Ridley!" She thought frantically, arming her blaster. Sure enough, in flew Ridley in all his fury. The dragon swooped down, knocking Samus clean off her feet and perched on top of the nearest stasis tank. His yellow eyes, filled with hatred, stared Samus down. Samus raised her blaster and squeezed the trigger. Ridley merely held up one claw and absorbed the blast, but did not fire it back. He shook his great ugly head, sighing.

"You, my dear enemy, have been a real thorn in my side for ages, but you've never given me as much hell as you have today." Ridley growled. Samus lowered her smoking gun.

"Not another one of your speeches, Ridley. You know as well as I that talking gets one nowhere." Samus replied.

"You're right on that one, but I would shut up if I were you. I have a whole base of very sleepy and angry pirates ready to charge at a moment's notice, and I probably won't be able to control them once they get attacking." As if on cue, a large group of pirates stepped into view.

"Do you always let the little people do your dirty work, Ridley? Oh yeah, I almost forgot. There is no honour among pirates." Ridley growled and bared his teeth at that statement. A few of the pirates raised their blasters. Ridley jumped down from the tank and landed in front of Samus.

"I'm going to kill you, Samus Aran. Tonight you die once and for all." Ridley growled, drawing close to her face.

"Oh I'll die, all right. But mark my words, I will take you and the rest of your filthy kind into Hell with me!" Samus snapped, squeezing the trigger on the sword, activating the blade. Everything happened at once. The pirates all raised their blasters, and began firing at Samus. Surprisingly enough, they didn't really meet their mark. Samus didn't really notice, though. She was busy blocking Ridley's attacks, trying to make her move. Then something strange happened. Ridley faltered. Only for a brief moment, but that was enough for Samus. Seeing this chance, she brought the energy sword down on Ridley's right arm as hard as she could. It sliced off cleanly, and Ridley howled in pain and fury. Everything seemed to slow down as Ridley's arm fell to the ground. The pirates stared at their wounded commander and at Samus, awe and fear visible on their ugly faces. One by one, they lowered their weapons. Ridley whirled about, sheer fury visible on his face.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOTS!" Ridley bellowed at his men. Samus took a step back, then bolted for the hallway.

"NO!" Ridley roared, running after her. "I WILL NOT BE MADE A FOOL BY MY OWN ENEMY!" But it was no use. Wounded as he was, Ridley could not catch Samus, and before long, she was out of the blast doors and running for her life. Ridley sank to his knees and threw his arms up, roaring as loud as he could to the heavens.

_End of chapter five._


	6. Chapter 6: The Huntress gets hunted

Metroid: Nightmares

_Part 6: The Huntress becomes the Hunted_

Samus ran, not stopping until she was a good distance from the Pirate base. She could still hear Ridley's cry of pain and rage ringing in her ears, keeping her going as she ran in the general direction of where here ship had crashed a few days ago.

Finally far enough, she stopped to catch her breath. The weariness from hunger and her mad adrenaline-fuelled sprint from the base was starting to take hold. If only she had her Chozo armour suit… Her attention snapped back to her surroundings. A strange scent had reached her, and drawn her attention. Sniffing the air peculiarly, Samus stood up, holding her stolen pirate sword and blaster at the ready. The bushes nearby rustled. Igniting the sword, Samus advanced on the bush cautiously. Suddenly, a humanoid figure leaped up, wielding a rifle and yelling:

"DIE, PIRATE!" With one sweeping motion of a jump and a lunge, she sliced the end off the figure's rifle and grabbed them by the throat. Backing up into the light of the planet's satellite, Samus could see that her "enemy" was a young human male. Struggling against Samus' iron grip, the human gasped. "Please! I mean you no harm! Let me go!" Samus raised her sword up to the human's face, somewhat shrouding her own.

"And why should I, when you yourself just yelled at me to die?" She growled, grip slightly tightening. The human coughed.

"I thought you were a pirate, and trust me, I can see you're no pirate." Samus thought this over for a moment, then let the young boy go. He fell gasping to the ground.

"What's your name, kid?" Samus asked.

"Mike." The teenager replied.

"Well, Mike. Don't you know that you were interfering with a raid of mine?" Samus demanded, her back to the boy.

"No. Who in their right mind would dare raid the base now?" Then something dawned on the kid. "Unless… Who are you?" Samus sighed, turning around. She was still in the shadows. She slowly stepped into the light.

"I'm Samus Aran. And you, Sam, are the first creature I've met on this cursed planet that isn't hostile." Mike just goggled, his mouth hanging open.

"But- what happened to you? Your suit, for that matter?"

"Long story short, I got caught during my raid and Ridley did something with a strange 'substance' to me. I just escaped earlier."

"So _that's_ what that roar was…" Mike muttered to himself, but Samus heard him.

"Yeah. I cut Ridley's arm off just before getting away. Anyways, I have a purpose to be here, but why are _you_ here?" Mike glared at Samus.

"I **used** to be part of the GFed. Some higher-ranking guy named Adam sent me here for recon a few years ago." Samus whirled around towards the kid.

"_Who_ sent you?" She demanded.

"This guy named Adam. Adam Malkovitch, I think it was. What, you know him?" Mike asked.

"**Knew** him is more the word I was after. Pirates killed him a few years ago. His persona is now my ship's main computer." Samus replied bitterly.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Anyways, you said you used to be part of GFed. Why aren't you now?"

"Oh, I just quit. I just stopped sending them reports. They probably think me dead by now."

"Wait a minute… What's your last name?"

"Er, Stevens. Why do you ask?" Samus paled. She remembered seeing a few of the profiles on her bounty list.

"_Michael Stevens. Wanted for abandoning the GF. Bring in **ALIVE!** Bounty: 10,000 GFC._"

"_Great. What do I do now? Do I tell him he's wanted on my bounty list? Or do I just let him help me, then bring him in? He certainly seems gullible enough._" Samus thought frantically to herself. Mike had apparently lost interest in Samus and was examining a tree. "_Yeah. That's what I'll do. Let him help me blow up that Pirate base and get my suit back, then bring him in to the nearest GFed station. Shouldn't be too hard._" Samus turned back to the kid, formulating a plan in her mind.

Ridley swore explosively at the medic who was trying to attach a new arm onto Ridley's bloody stump.

"I'm going to kill Samus for this. Slowly and painfully, she is going to die for doing this to me." Ridley growled through gritted teeth.

"Sir?" A pirate addressed Ridley from the door.

"Yes?" Ridley replied, looking up at the pirate.

" We have a squadron of pirates ready to hunt for Samus. Shall I dispatch them?" he pirate replied.

"No. I will hunt her down myself and bring her back myself. Don't let them leave. I might bring them with me when I go out hunting, so keep them in reserve, but don't let them leave this base." Ridley commanded.

"Well, you won't be leaving anytime soon because I still have to cauterize this thing to your arm." The medic said. Ridley grinned, and breathed a jet of flame onto the cybernetic arm, fusing it to his flesh. Flexing his new arm, Ridley stood up and left the room.

Ridley stood in the armoury, examining the arsenal available. He grabbed an arm-mounted rifle, an energy sword, and a couple of grenades, which he attached to an artillery belt.

Moments later, he was standing in the main chamber, looking over his small squad of elite Hunter Pirates. The Hunter breed had been discovered when a few pirates who were used for tracking were exposed to the substance, creating a breed of pirates with advanced tracking and hunting skills.

"Alright. Follow me. If you find the Huntress, don't kill her. Notify me immediately. She's mine. You're free attack any organism that's with her, though. Move out!" Ridley ordered, and began marching out of the base with his squadron behind him.

Samus wandered along, with Mike at her heels like a lost puppy. Since she had destroyed his weapon, it was up to her to protect the human, especially since he was worth 10,000 GFC if she brought him in alive. That is, if she could keep herself from killing the boy herself.

"Where are we going, again?" Mike asked for about the fifth time.

"We're going to where my ship crash-landed. There should be an extra weapon available for you to use in there, and I'll need Adam to see how I can get rid of this "condition" of mine." Samus replied through gritted teeth. "_Just remember. He's worth 10,000 GFC if you don't disintegrate him here and now. Self-control, Samus, self-control…_"

"Do you even remember where the ship is?" Mike asked.

"Yes I do. Just look for a great big clearing of scorched earth. My ship is in the middle." Mike went quiet and the pair continued on. A few minutes later, the trees and grass cleared to reveal a large scorched area. Gleaming in the moonlight was Samus' gunship, still nose-down in the melted sand. "C'mon. Let's not waste time out here." Samus grumbled, jumping up onto her ship and opening the top hatch. She jumped down into the ship and headed up to the control area. A few minutes later, Mike jumped down through the hatch. Punching in the code, Samus turned around to face Mike.

"That was quite the jump you made there." Mike stated, for lack of something interesting to say.

"I usually don't jump as high as that was and I don't usually land so easily. I guess it's just a result from the genetic torture." Samus replied, and turned back to the control board, which had just lit up.

"Samus, is that you?" Adam's voice came through the speakers.

"Yes it is, but enough chit chat. Scan the area nearby. I want a full readout on all the life forms within a three-mile radius." Samus commanded.

"Done. And who is this other pathetic creature behind you? Shall I remove him?"

"No, Adam. Mike here is helping me. Open the armoury for him so he can get a weapon." Adam obliged, and Mike disappeared into the small room. After the kid had disappeared in the room, Adam addressed Samus in a quiet voice.

"Who is that kid? He seems familiar…"

"His name is Mike Stevens. He told me that you sent him here on a recon mission a few years ago, and he apparently abandoned the GFed. He's on my bounty list for 10,000 GFC if I bring him in alive." Samus replied, whispering.

"Oh, I remember that kid! Always messing things up. I sent him here to get out of the way. How is HE helping you?"

"He knows this area better than you or me. He's going to help me destroy the Pirate base that's located on this planet, and possibly help me find an antidote to this… condition…"

"Condition?" Adam asked.

"Turn your freakin' camera on, Adam, and have a look for yourself. Ridley and his men are doing experiments with a mutagenic substance that's even more volatile than Phazon. Scan me and see if you can figure out a way to get rid of this condition. And Adam, if there's nothing in your database, take a sample of my blood." Samus turned to the scanning arm, standing very still as the beam of light swept her vertically and horizontally.

"That's very strange. Yes, I do believe that I'll need a blood sample, for my databases have nothing on this problem." Samus held out her left arm to the machine holding the needle. The machine jabbed it in, took a sample, and drew it out. Mike walked back out of the armoury, holding Samus' favourite weapon; her biggest plasma cannon.

"No." Samus stated at the sight of her favourite weapon in the teenager's hands.

"Aw, why not?" Mike whined.

"Because that cannon holds more firepower than that peashooter you were using a few hours ago, and therefore one has to be actually trained in how to use it. You need a special license just to lift that sucker." Samus replied. Mike, with a sulky look, returned to the armoury. Just then a monitor on the dash lit up.

"Samus?" Adam began.

"What?"

"I analyzed your blood and the scans I took."

"And?" Adam almost sighed.

"Which news do you want first?"

"Gimme the bad." Adam almost sighed again.

"The bad news is, this substance is unknown. I've recorded the simple properties in the database, but there is still a need for an untainted sample to research its true nature."

"Untainted?"

"Meaning pure, not in your blood."

"Oh."

"Anyways, you need to go and find an untainted sample and bring it back here in order for me to find an antidote. And to do that, you have to-"

"Go back to the pirate base."

"Yeah."

"Oh well. I knew I'd have to go back there sooner or later to retrieve my suit. MIKE?" Mike came rushing out of the armoury, holding a more reasonably sized plasma rifle.

"Yes?" He asked.

"We have to go to the Pirate base to steal back my armour and collect a sample of whatever they're using in their experiments. In the back, there's a room for storage. In there you'll find a few canisters. Bring about four up here, along with a bag and a few clips of ammo." Samus ordered. Mike turned heel, and Samus turned back to the monitor. "So what's the good news, then?"

"If I get a proper sample, I might be able to reverse the changes that you've undergone, and your suit could be modified to do the treatment." Adam replied, briefly showing a few charts on the screen.

"Well that's a good thing, then." Samus turned away and started towards the storage area.

"Oh, no. Samus, wait!" Adam called back to her. Samus rushed back to the cockpit.

"What is it?"

"That substance is coursing through your bloodstream at the moment. It is causing mutations that are bringing out the best properties in your DNA. You'll be able to absorb energy just like a metroid, and you'll have heightened abilities like a Chozo and just might be able to fly."

"So? Your point?"

"When I took the blood sample, I found another strand of DNA in there. One that was neither Chozo, nor Metroid, nor human, for that matter."

"And?"

"I wasn't able to identify it. All I'm saying is that you had better be careful. The mutations just might advance further, so you have to be very careful around that kid. He may not be part of the GFed anymore, but who's to say it wont stop him from calling to an officer demanding your capture, or worse, termination?" Samus sighed.

"I'll be very careful. And if he tries **anything** on me, I will tear him apart with my bare hands." Just then, Mike walked back into the room, with a bulging bag slung over his shoulder.

"Well? Are we going now?" He asked.

"No. I could use a bit of shut-eye, and besides, Adam'll keep his sensors on full power while we're asleep. Adam, open the bunks." Samus replied. Two bunks extended out of the right-hand bulkhead, one above, one below. Samus leaped up onto the top bunk, detached her stolen energy sword, and placed the sword and the rifle into the compartment nearby her head. Her head had barely touched the pillow when she drifted off to sleep…

Ridley charged on through the underbrush, his squad of Hunters following close behind. He had been trudging through the planet's dense forests for a good part of the night, and he still hadn't found the huntress. Out of nowhere, a branch came into view. Ridley ran headlong into it. Cursing, Ridley sat down. His squad of Elites just looked at each other dumbly.

"What are you standing around for? Go scout for the Huntress!" he bellowed at his men, who scrambled off. Rubbing his snout, Ridley grabbed a few dried branches and lit them. "_Where the hell could she be?_" The dragon thought to himself. "_She couldn't have gotten _that_ far…_" A small critter scurried by. Ridley speared it with his tail and roasted it over the bonfire. "_I mean, how could she have the energy to even get this far, let alone hide from my troops?_" Ridley popped the now charred creature in his mouth and chewed. "_Geez, I thought we'd find her sleeping on the forest floor five metres away from the base!_" Ridley coughed up a bone just as one of his men walked up.

"Sir?" The pirate asked. Ridley looked up at him.

"Yes?" He replied, spitting the bone at a nearby tree.

"There is something you need to see."

Samus awoke to a buzzing in her ears. It felt like she hadn't slept at all. It wasn't until Adam's voice rang in her ears that she got up.

"Samus!" He cried. "Hostile life forms closing in on the ship!" Samus was fully awake now. Attaching the energy scythe and cannon to her arms, she leaped down from the bunk.

"Ridley!" She grumbled, rushing to the helm. She opened the solar shields, revealing the outside. Sure enough, a squad of pirates she had never seen before had enveloped her ship, led by Ridley himself. "Adam, wake Mike up! Tell him to get the stuff ready!" Two minutes later, Mike was up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "No time for rest, Sleeping Beauty!" Samus roared, running past him towards the armoury.

"What's going on?" He asked, confused.

"Get a gun and get ready to fight. Ridley's found us!" She shouted back, grabbing a few clips of ammo. Uttering a few curses, Mike rushed into the storage room.

"Adam! Charge the guns! The second those things get in range, open fire! Shoot to kill!" Samus shouted. She pulled her plasma cannon off the shelf in the armoury and rushed back into the main area. Mike rushed into the room.

"I have some food and ammo in the bag, as well as the sample canisters." He said, shouldering the bag.

"That's fine, just load your gun and follow me!" Samus shouted, opening the top hatch.

"WHAT? We're going out there?" Mike demanded, fear in his eyes.

"Stay behind me, kid, and you'll stay alive." Samus replied, and jumped up through the hatch. Through the gloom, she could see the pirates closing in on her ship. Luckily, they hadn't noticed her…yet. She helped Mike up through the hole, covering his mouth to keep him from speaking. She could see Ridley advancing, wings spread, tail lashing…yellow eyes gleaming. She could hear the Pirates conversing in their guttural native tongue, but, strangely, she could understand what they were saying.

"I can't see anything." One growled.

"I don't care. The Huntress is in there somewhere, and I am going to find her. Prepare your weapons!" Ridley rumbled.

"Mike, whatever you do, do not move from this spot. I am going to distract these things so Adam can get a good, clean shot. I don't want you in the crossfire." Samus whispered to the boy.

"But-" Mike began, but Samus cut him off.

"Stay here and don't make a sound." Samus replied. She leaped down off the ship, and landed soundlessly. Smirking, she ignited her energy sword and charged at the pirates.

Samus' sudden charge startled Ridley. He hadn't seen her coming, he just saw a pirate energy sword ignite, and Samus charged. Plasma bolts fired at his men, felling them like trees. He roared, and charged at the huntress.

Samus fired at the pirates with her pilfered gun, killing them instantly. She saw Ridley charge out of the corner of her eye, and raised her sword to meet the attack. The dragon bore down on her with brute strength, swiping at her with his claws. She slashed at him with the sword, cutting gashes in his chest. He drew back, holding a claw to his wounds. Samus seized the opportunity and armed her plasma cannon. Ridley staggered up, and didn't notice the gun in Samus' arms until it was too late. Samus opened fire with such force that it almost threw her backwards. Ridley fell to the ground, gashes sizzling, plasma acid eating away at his armour. Samus fired again, meeting its mark once more. It was strange. Ridley couldn't see a thing, but Samus was hitting her target every time. Then there was a strange sound. Silence. The silence was so absolute; it could have been thunder. The dragon lay on the ground, moaning in pain. He could see Samus step up to him, her sword glowing.

"I am going to die." He thought to himself, cold fear gripping him for the first time. Then, miraculously, Samus lowered her sword and knelt down beside him.

"Be thankful, Ridley, that I don't kill you here and now." Samus whispered in his ear. "I have an advantage here, but I want our final battle to be face-to-face. I want to be able to see the glow in your eyes fade as I kill you for the last time. So, until next time Ridley." Samus stood up, and with lightning speed, sliced the dragon's legs clean off. Ridley's howl of pain filled the night air, and Samus vanished into the night.

_End of chapter six._

**Hey, everybody. Sorry this chapter took so long to finish, but I've been pretty busy. Anyways, chapter seven shouldn't take as long as this one did.**

**See you next mission!**

**Enforced Evolution**


	7. Chapter 7: Second Thoughts?

Metroid: Nightmares

_Part 7: Second Thoughts?_

Ridley drifted in and out of consciousness. He couldn't feel a thing. Couldn't remember anything. All he knew was that he had lost again… but to what? He cursed his lack of memory as he lay on the brink of death. Then a thought… a memory… returned to him. A woman's voice, filled with hatred, whispered in his ear. Then, pain. Sheer fiery pain, and then… nothing…

Samus tore through the underbrush as she fled from the crash site. Mike, at least four feet behind her, shouted at her to stop, but Samus didn't let up. She knew she had pushed it too far that time. Ridley, when he got healed, would be even more vicious and would most likely kill her on sight. But still… It certainly felt good to cripple her rival once again. Mike's yelling jolted Samus from her thoughts. Samus slowed her pace, allowing the kid to catch up.

"Geez, Samus! What's gotten into you? One minute you're calm and collective, the next you're in a blood frenzy, and now you're not even listening to me!" Mike cried. Samus looked over at him.

"Kid, the first thing you should know is that that 'blood frenzy' is what I am almost always like on a mission. Secondly, you haven't just crippled your worst enemy, who will now kill you and me on sight from now on. And thirdly, I take orders from no one, got it?" Samus snapped. Mike paled.

"What?"

"You heard me. That great loud roar you just heard? That was Ridley's cry of pain as I hacked off both his legs. Now he will be obsessive about finding and slaughtering me." Samus replied, not looking at Mike. The pair continued walking through the forest until they found a small clearing.

"We'll stay here for the night. I can't contact Adam from here, so we'll wait here tonight until the pirates are gone, then we can go back and get my remote access unit. I'll go scout around. You should gather some twigs and small logs for a fire." Mike nodded, and then walked into the trees. Samus got up, and started into the trees. Darkness instantly enveloped her as she entered the trees. That didn't matter to her, though. She could see perfectly in the suffocating gloom. From where she was she could hear a stream gurgling away, and she walked in the direction of the sound. She found the stream a few metres from the clearing, and knelt down before the water. She took a drink and washed her face, thinking about all that had happened recently. Then, like a thunderclap, a bolt of sheer pain shot through her body. Samus screamed in pain, keeling over. For a moment she could hear someone running towards her, then everything went black.

Mike was gathering some twigs when he heard Samus scream.

"Samus!" He shouted, dropping the twigs and running in the direction of the scream. He found her on the ground by a stream on the brink of unconsciousness. He lunged towards her as he saw her flop towards the stream, and caught her in his arms just as she went limp. He couldn't help but notice that her skin had taken on a darker tone and gotten harder as he carried her back towards the clearing…

Ridley was delirious with pain and exhaustion as the squad of pirates he'd hailed carried him back to the base on a stretcher. He kept thinking about the recent confrontation and wondered why he and his men had been so helpless in the face of the Huntress. Then, he thought he heard a scream emanate from the nearby woods, causing him to remember why Samus had escaped. He growled at himself from the back of his throat. He had been too eager to torture his rival, giving her power greater than ever before. It was also the fault of getting himself drunk on alcohol the night she escaped. He cursed his choice of tasting the human drink years ago.

"_No. Do not think about the past, it only distracts from the present. Worry about the situation at hand. Find the Huntress, capture her, and kill her. There is no way you can tame her, now that the mutations are advancing._" He scolded himself. Now more alert, he grit his teeth and sat up. This startled his squad of pirates so much that some of them nearly dropped the stretcher.

"Sir! You must rest! You have lost too much blood!" One of them cried. Ridley shook his head.

"Get me to the base. Alert the troops. Have them completely on guard for the Huntress. Get me a medic. Now!" Ridley commanded wearily. The pirates, with renewed vigour, nodded and ran towards the base.

Samus groaned and rolled over, squinting against the light. Her head hurt, and she felt as if something had been spread over her skin, making it thicker. Also, she could not lay flat on her back. The small bony extensions on her shoulder blades had somehow lengthened. Samus groaned again and sat up. In a flash, Mike was at her side.

"Are you okay?" he asked, a worried expression visible on his face.

"I don't even know." Samus replied, raising a hand up to her forehead. It never got there. She gazed at her hand. The skin was a dark colour and looked as if it had armour plates all over it. She rolled up the sleeves of her orange fight suit. Sure enough, the skin on her arms looked the same. Nervous, Samus twisted around to see her back. Poking outwards were two thin stumps, as if new limbs were growing outwards. Panicking, Samus leapt to her feet, head spinning. She bolted off in the direction of the stream and stopped at the riverbank. Apprehensive about what she would see, Samus knelt down and leaned over towards the stream. What she saw startled her. Her skin was a slightly darker tone, and her hair had darkened a small bit. Samus bit her lip at the sight, and winced in pain. She bared her teeth, and saw that they had become razor-sharp overnight. Finished with examining her changes, Samus sat back, sighing. She now looked feral. If it weren't for her orange flight suit and advanced weapons, she would have looked as if she lived in the forests her whole life.

"You okay?" Mike asked.

"Do I look okay?" Samus snapped in reply. She saw Mike flinch, and instantly regretted her outburst. "I'm sorry. This whole situation has put me in a bad mood. It's not you." Mike smiled weakly, accepting her apology. They were both silent for a few moments. Then, Samus stood up to her full 6 foot 9 height.

"Well, let's head back to the ship. I need to get my RAU and I just might have a plan…" Samus grinned, an idea formulating in her head.

Ridley sat up on a somewhat padded cot, watching the medic affix his two new limbs onto his bloody stumps.

"Hurry it up, will you? I need to get the men ready for battle and brief them of their mission." Ridley snapped at the medic.

"I'm working as fast as I can! I need to finish cauterizing the nerves and tendons so that you are capable of walking afterwards." The medic replied, exasperated. Ridley grinned.

"That didn't stop me last time."

"Not a good idea. You could have given yourself a fatal injury there. Who's to say that you won't this time?"

"Then hurry up and finish it. I'll be climbing back into stasis after this, so The Substance will help mend any broken bones, wounds and injured tissue. It will also permanently fuse the cybernetic limbs to me." Ridley commanded. Sighing, the medic began working faster…

"Adam! Open up!" Samus shouted, banging her fist on the hatch of her ship. A few seconds later, the hatch slid open with a whir, and Adam's voice filled the ship.

"Samus! What're you doing back? I thought you were going to raid the Space Pirate base?" The computer asked as Samus dropped down through the hatch.

"Plans changed at the last moment. But I need you to power up the chemical reconstruction machine. I have a substance that I need you to duplicate for me. Make sure it's in large quantities, or preferably, form it into tools for me." Samus instructed. A loud whirring ensued and a light in the cockpit flickered to life.

"The machine is ready when you are, Samus" the computer stated. "Anyways, what did you do to make you retreat? My sensors were not completely online when the threat meter dropped down to zero."

Samus grimaced, dreading this question. "To say the least, I pissed off that squad of pirates. I ran off to prevent them from damaging the ship." She answered. Mike's eyebrows shot up at the lie. She shot him a quick glare, and he immediately erased the expression. Luckily, Adam's circuits did not detect the lie.

"Oh. So, what do you need reconstructed?" The computer asked.

"Oh yes. Give me a moment to get the sample for you." Samus replied. "I'm going to need a knife or something like that."

"Okay-?" Adam replied, puzzled. A door in the back of t he ship whirred open.

"Mike, in the back room there you'll find a few knives. Grab a small one that is easy to hold in the hand." Samus ordered. Mike nodded and meandered off. "Adam?" She whispered.

"Yes?" the computer whispered back.

"Close the door to the storage room. Now."

"But, that's where Mike is."

"Yes I know. Just do it."

"Alright." Adam replied resignedly. Another whirr, and the door to the storage room slid shut. Samus could hear a muffled cry of protest as soon as the door sealed.

"Alright. Believe me; I have perfectly good reason to want him back there." Samus assured the computer, her voice still a whisper.

"You'd better! Now what's all this about?" Adam replied, in an equally quiet voice.

"Firstly, the mutations are advancing. I had an episode last night in the woods. I owe my life to Mike for preventing me from drowning when he found me."

"What just one minute! Where were you, why were you there, and how exactly did you nearly drown?"

"Alright, it's time for you to hear the full truth."

"The full truth?"

"Yes."

"Oh dear, I know that tone."

"Last night, when I jumped out to attack the pirates, I didn't show up on your sensors, did I?"

"No. As I said, my sensors were still coming online."

"Well, firstly, I killed off the squad of pirates first-"

"Wait, you killed them all on your own and with no armour?"

"Yes. Anyways, after killing the pirates, I advanced on Ridley. I used my plasma cannon, and that took him down really quickly."

"You killed him, right?"

Samus hesitated.

"You didn't. I don't believe this! How many times must I tell you that you should not agitate a Space Pirate! Honestly! One day you are going to push an enemy too far, and they will kill you!"

"I know that, Adam! And I will kill him the next time I face him, because that will be when I get my suit back!" Samus paused to try and cool her temper. "Anyways, I cut off Ridley's legs and bolted. I figured he would summon up another squad of pirates to get him back to the base, so I fled to a clearing in the forest. Mike and I split up: he would go look for twigs and the like to start a small fire, and I went off to scout for enemies. I found a stream and paused by it, then the mutation advanced, and I passed out. Mike told me that he came running when he heard me scream, and found me keeling over towards the stream. He caught me, luckily enough."

"I see. So why do need the reconstructor?"

"The tank that Ridley kept me in was probably made with glass from this planet's dirt. It had the same properties as the glass entombing the ship has."

"Oh."

"Yes. The mutations made my nails literally harder than diamonds, and I was able to carve my way out of the tank. If you can duplicate a sample in greater quantities, I might be able to get the ship out of the glass. Speaking of which, I need that knife. You can let Mike out now." Samus stated, taking notice to the muffled shouts and banging coming from behind the storage room door. The door whirred open, and out shot Mike, who had probably been about to throw himself against the door to open it. Samus bent down to help him up.

"What happened to the door? I go in, and next thing I know, the door's slammed shut on me!" Mike cried, getting up with Samus' aid. He narrowed his eyes. "You weren't trying to trap me, were you?"

Samus raised her hands in protest. "No! Adam just short circuited!"

Mike seemed to relax at the reply. "Oh, good. I thought you locked me in there so you would be rid of me."

"Of course not. I need you to help me get my suit back and destroy the pirate base."

"Samus?" Adam interjected. "The sample?"

"Oh, yes. Pass me the knife, Mike." Samus replied. Mike handed her the knife, which Samus instantly began hacking away with. Five minutes later, Samus placed a canister containing a piece of her nail in the machine. After pressing a few buttons, it buzzed to life, first scanning and then analyzing the tiny fragment in the canister.

"Samus, this sample has an extremely complex chemical makeup. It may take awhile to isolate and identify each chemical component." Adam stated. Samus nodded.

"Okay. But remember, I don't want the machine to create a nonliving clone of me, okay? Eliminate the genetic code and just copy the material itself, not the DNA strand." Samus replied.

"That will lengthen the time it takes to create the quantity you want, but alright."

Samus nodded, and wandered up to the cockpit.

Ridley surveyed the pirates milling about from his high perch above the central stasis room. Since he had gotten out of the medical wing, the atmosphere in the base had intensified and become strained with tension and excitement. Almost every pirate had excitement and adrenaline surging through their veins as they anticipated and predicted an attack and confrontation against the Huntress. Ridley bared his teeth in a grin as he watched a small group of heavily armoured pirates carry a large bendezium crate down a darkened hallway. He knew that hallway quite well; down it was where his chosen stasis tank was located. Another group of similarly armoured pirates wandered down, carrying another crate with them. Ridley grimaced, unsure about his recent decision. He knew he needed an expansive supply of The Substance in order to get the results he wanted, and they did not have that kind of quantities yet, but had this decision been a bad idea? Phazon had given them substantial results in the past, namely with the Omega Pirate, but phazon madness had often run rampant with their test subjects. Now there was another worry: What would happen when Substance and Phazon came together?

"_What am I worrying about? It will be fine! As long as the men don't find out that I'm using Phazon to boost my power, I'll be fine._" Ridley thought to himself, watching another squad of pirates laden with crates walk down that hallway. "_All I really have to worry about now is my own health and what might happen when I go into stasis._" A final squad walked down, and Ridley spread his wings and swooped after them.

He landed in the room, startling the pirates into standing at attention. One taller pirate stepped forward.

"Sir. The shipments of supplies are in, and all arrived as scheduled. There were no problems at all." The pirate stated.

"Good. Get the tank prepared. I will expect it ready by sunset." Ridley ordered. The captain saluted Ridley once more, and then barked instructions to the pirates, who scrambled to work. Ridley, grinning to himself, turned heel and started back down the hallway.

Samus had nearly dozed off when Adam drew her attention.

"Samus?" the computer began. "The reconstruction is done. It worked out quite well. I actually managed to liquidize it and form the material into tools that could be used to pick the ship out of the glass."

"Good, very good. Now, I need you to try and replace one of the crystals of the plasma cannons on the ship with a section of the material. If I'm right, the ship will adapt and fire blasts of the material. If it works, I'll need you to fire on the glass encasing the ship. That should destroy the glass easily, and free the ship." Samus replied, getting up out of the pilot's chair. A robotic arm shot out of the wall, holding in its grip a shiny bluish pickaxe. Samus grabbed the pickaxe, opened the top hatch, and leapt up through the hatch. Remembering something, Samus poked her head down through the hatch.

"Adam?" She called out.

"Yes?" The computer replied.

"Wake up Mike and give him a tool. Tell him I need to put him to work." Samus ordered, and pulled her head back out of the hole. Pickaxe in hand, she hopped down, landing with barely a sound. She turned to the fire-orange ship's hull, and got to work.

"DON'T EVER LET ME CATCH YOU SLACKING OFF AGAIN, YOU HEAR? THE ENEMY IS RIGHT IN OUR YARD, AND YOU SLACK-JAWED IDIOTS ARE BUSY FOOLING AROUND WITH BLOODY PIECES OF HARDENED PAPER WITH SYMBOLS ON THEM! **THIS IS NO TIME FOR GAMES!**" Ridley bellowed at a small group of pirates whom he had caught sitting around a table fiddling with little pieces of paper. The pirates cringed at Ridley's wrath, fearful of what he might do to them. They did not fear the Huntress, but their commander was another whole story. "NOW GET BACK TO YOUR POSTS!" The pirates had no problem with obeying: they tripped over themselves just trying to get away from Ridley. He chuckled in his throat as he watched them stumble down the hall. Then, through one of the monitors showing outside of the base, he saw that the light was rapidly fading. He grinned, knowing that his path to supreme power would be prepared by now. He spread his wings, and with a brief burst of flame from his jaws, flew off towards his private stasis room.

Samus hacked away with the pickaxe, tearing away the glass in large chunks. At her request, Adam had set out a container for some of the glass to be put in to keep. Mike worked at the other side of the ship, working much more slowly.

"Samus?" Adam's voice called from one of the portable speakers.

"Yes?"

"I changed the crystals. You might want to back away, as I am going to test out the laser."

"Alright." Samus replied, backing up. "Fire away."

A thin, concentrated beam of bluish energy shot out from one of the ship's side turrets and hit the glass. For a few moments it looked as if the beam was doing nothing to help, but then it started eating away at the glass at a rapid rate. Before long, a long, precise cut spread across the glass coating one part of the hull. Samus and Mike got to work at prying the large chunk of glass away from the ship. With the two working in tandem with Adam and the shipboard guns, they hacked through the glass quickly and without incident.

All the while, however, Mike couldn't help but noticed that Samus slowly underwent some more physical changes. He noticed that the two small stubs on her back had begun to lengthen, causing them to protrude more against her flight suit. He also noticed that her already-sharp nails had begun to look more like a predator's talons, curved and black like deadly weapons of murder. The last, and most subtle, change he noticed was that Samus' ears had become slightly longer and tapered to points. He didn't mention anything to Samus, of course. She'd kill him on the spot if he pointed out anything! Samus, oddly enough, did not seem to notice these changes at all, which was much unlike the last time.

Even though she had those odd mutations going on, Mike could not help but notice how beautiful Samus really was. Why she hid herself inside a suit of armour all the time puzzled him. Was she shy? He shook off that notion as he worked: If Samus was shy, she would have locked him away in the storage room until she regained her suit! He knew not to say anything on the matter, but he was worried about the bounty hunter. The prospect of Samus dying from the forceful mutations was not impossible, to say the least, and this scared Mike. If she died, who would prevent the Space Pirates from completing their galactic conquest? There was also another, more emotional reason for Mike not wanting Samus to die. She had helped him in more ways than she herself knew. Unknown to Samus, Mike had been running from a squad of pirates when Samus found him in the woods, and if she had not shown up when she did, he'd be dead, or captured for use as a guinea pig for the Space Pirates' horrific experiments. Yes, Samus had been a little hard on him at times, but overall she had been friendly and trusting.

Another thing worried him, though. What would happen if the GFed found out that he was still alive? Or worse, what if they already knew and had him wanted for abandonment? They would have sent word out to all the bounty hunters in the galaxy, including Samus.

"Oi, Mike! What, are you daydreaming?" Samus called out, jolting Mike from his thoughts. "There isn't much glass left to get rid of, so let's quickly finish up, then we can rest, okay?"

Mike grinned, nodded, and raised his pickaxe once more.

Ridley landed in the room where his stasis tank stood, ready and awaiting an occupant. The small group of pirates turned to him and abruptly snapped to attention. The captain saluted stepped up and saluted Ridley.

"Sir-" the captain began, but Ridley cut him off.

"Is it ready?" the dragon demanded, stepping up to the tank. It was huge; bigger than the Omega Pirate's, and Ridley would need all the space he could get due to the mixture that would be pumped into the tank and himself.

"Yes, sir. The team can put you in there right now, if you wish. Ridley snorted.

"Of course I want to. Make haste!" Ridley commanded. One of the pirates walked up to him.

"Sir-?" the pirate began feebly. Ridley inclined his head, and the soldier cringed.

"Yes?" Ridley replied.

"Well, it's about the mixture. Our team did a small bit of research on a small amount of it, and we got considerable results."

"Go on."

"Well, there were no problematic reactions when The Substance and Phazon came in contact with one another whatsoever. When they do come in contact, they give off radiation that is substantially more powerful and mutagenic than anything else we've ever seen. Mutations occur ten times faster, and the mixture causes more mutations than normal, granting substantial powers."

Ridley grinned, baring his teeth. "All the better, then. You and your men will get a promotion for this, but in order to earn it, my results must be satisfactory. That means I must be in there in five minutes."

The pirate grinned. "Yes sir." The squad of pirates approached him, holding various tubes, wires, and needles in their arms. "The only thing about the advanced mutagen is that it causes a lot of pain when the mutations occur."

"Pain means little against the powers I will gain. It is a small price to pay for ultimate power." Ridley stated, allowing the pirate squad to gather around him. They stuck tubes into his veins, which would eventually pump him full of the mixture, stuck a breathing device onto his muzzle, and injected him with a drug. Just as they withdrew the needle, everything darkened, and he fell asleep.

Samus and Mike had finished freeing the ship from the glass, and were sitting inside, deep in conversation.

"The base is accessible by a small pressure pad near the hidden door. You push on it, and the door will open. I found that out the first time I went there. Last time, the base was not guarded very heavily and I was able to infiltrate it easily. This time, however, it won't be so easy." Samus pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil and began drawing a map on it. When she was done, she placed her finger on a small room at the beginning of the base. "Ridley will no doubt have a small amount of guards in the first room. They will most likely be hidden, so that they can ambush me. Adam has a few helmets with HUD visors, and they are capable of seeing in X-rays, normal spectrum, and the infrared spectrum. I'll use the IR visor so I can pick the guards off quickly and without incident." Samus moved her finger down to a larger room. "This is where the pirates' stasis tanks are located. This is also where Ridley will probably have the greatest amount of men stationed so that if I did get through the initial ambush, they'd easily outnumber and capture me." Samus continued on, moving her finger from place to place on the map and outlining the threat level in each one. After she was done, she sat back, and waited a moment before outlining her plan. After she was done, Mike spoke.

"I have one question." He said.

"What is it?" Samus replied.

"How are we going in there? You and I have no means of protection whatsoever, so we'll be dead in the first room."

Samus smirked. "Didn't I tell you? We've got armour, all right. Adam! Bring in the armour and helmets!" A robotic arm whirred, and carried in a bundle of black material and two helmets. Samus grabbed a helmet and half of the bundle. Mike grabbed the rest.

"_Fabric?_ We're infiltrating the Space Pirate base wearing _fabric_ armour?" Mike demanded, giving Samus a terrified look.

"State-of-the-art stealth armour. It employs an energy shield to protect us from gun blasts, and can render itself invisible. The helmet, once connected, controls it all."

"Sure, it protects against energy blasts, but what about the Space Pirates' bayonets and scythes?"

"Fluid body armour. Let me demonstrate." Samus stood up and walked into the storage room, the door sliding shut behind her. Moments later, she stepped out, wearing the black suit. In one hand she held the helmet, and in the other she held a dagger. She handed the dagger to Mike and placed the helmet on her head. "Throw it at me." Mike's eyes bulged at the comment, seriously doubting Samus' sanity. "Seriously, throw it at me." Mike shook his head. Samus' expression hardened. "Mike, throw the knife at me or I will lock you in the storage room and take you to the nearest GF station. That is an order." Mike sighed and held the knife up. He stood up straight, and threw the knife at Samus' chest. The knife hit true, and bounced off. Mike picked up the knife, an astonished look on his face. "Well done. Now, try and stab me." Mike hesitated a moment, then jumped at Samus and drove the knife into Samus' chest. The knife hit Samus' armour and skittered off. Samus took the helmet off. "See? This armour can stop a friggin' bullet."

"Okay, you proved that the armour can withstand physical blows, but how can it render itself invisible?"

"That is a special trick that has to do with the colour of the armour. See how dark it is?"

"Yes…" Mike replied, confused.

"Now, if I activate the armour, I can vanish. Watch." Samus replaced the helmet and rested her hand onto it. With two fingers, she pressed on one spot on the side, activating the armour. It looked as if all the light from the ship and the outside world had been sucked into Samus' armour and eliminated there. It instantly became darker than anything Mike had ever seen before, and his eyesight went from 20/20 to zero in less than two seconds. Then, as quickly as it vanished, the light came back, blinding Mike temporarily. With a cry, he stumbled forward, and was caught by the shirt by Samus. Mike blinked in pain, his eyesight slowly returning.

"Now you know what the armour is capable of." Samus mused, holding her helmet in her lap. "However, for any of the features to work, you must have the helmet on and connected, or else the armour is nothing more than a bunch of fabric." Samus stretched and stifled a yawn. "C'mon, let's get some rest. We attack tomorrow."

_End of chapter seven._


End file.
